CD Details

These songs have all been remastered from premium quality sources with the exception of four tracks within the album "For the Young at Heart" which were remastered from a good quality stereo vinyl source. All other tracks within that album were remastered from first generation original masters.

Released: March 14, 2006

Originally Released: 2001

Label: Collectables Records

Description by OLDIES.com:

Two of Perry's popular "swing" albums, albeit very different one from the other, "Como Swings" and "For the Young at Heart" were recorded back to back at RCA's Webster Hall, New York City, the first in 1959 and the other in 1960, representing two different views of a swinging Como. "Como Swings" was produced by Charles Grean and Lee Schapiro whereas "For the Young at Heart" was the first of five albums produced for Perry by the legendary team of Hugo and Luigi. Both albums are charming and show Perry Como in a very different light from his traditional low-key persona. A highlight of "Como Swings" is a non-credited duet with Como's choral director Ray Charles within the song "To Know You (Is To Love You)".

Como Swings and For the Young at Heart are chronologically consecutive albums in Perry Como's discography, not counting the holiday collection Seasons Greetings, so it makes sense for Collectables Records to have combined the 1959 and 1961 releases on one CD in its series of Como two-fers. But stylistically they are very different records. Como Swings was the singer's attempt to make an album like one of Frank Sinatra's popular up-tempo LPs of the 1950s, such as Songs for Swingin' Lovers. Arrangers Joe Lipman and Jack Andrews wrote a bunch of charts that aped the sound Billy May got for Sinatra, full of blaring horn fanfares and loud percussion. Song after song features these aggressive orchestrations, which push Como to assert himself more than usual. Arranger O.B. Masingill, on the other hand, takes a different tack for the 12 songs that make up For the Young at Heart, all of which have the word "young" in the title. The strings are gone, a prominent chorus sings along with Como, and the horns are frequently muted or just restrained, as Masingill imposes a lightly swinging style on the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra. The approach is more conducive to the singer, who turns in characteristically warm and easy interpretations. The big changeover on the CD occurs between track 12, "Begin the Beguine," and track 13, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie," when things suddenly calm down considerably. Both albums have their virtues, but this CD should really be thought of as two separate collections that happen to have been run together. ~ William Ruhlmann